Wireless beacons are devices that generate and transmit wireless signals in a relatively small area of coverage. For example, a recent commercial product known as iBeacon from APPLE, INC. is an indoor positioning system that uses Low Energy Bluetooth (BLE) (also referred to as Bluetooth 4.0 and Bluetooth Smart). Essentially, the iBeacon technology enables nearby mobiles device (such as an IPHONE running IOS or an ANDROID device) to receive and send messages over greater distances than NFC technology (near field communications). For example, the iBeacon can send messages over 150 feet. This technology is superior to GPS insofar as indoor locations are concerned since GPS relies on communications with a GPS satellite, which is generally not available in an indoor environment. In addition, this technology enables much more precision in locating the user and his mobile device.
A beacon in this respect may be a dedicated device or it may be embodied in a mobile smartphone having the appropriate hardware and software configurations. In the first case of a dedicated device, it is envisioned that retail stores and other physical locations would place these dedicated wireless beacons throughout their premises, so as to enable the beacons to communicate with the users' mobile devices as they approach, browse around, and leave the store. Dedicated beacons could operate in a stand-alone or networked environment. When operating stand-alone, they emit signals that are detected by a user's mobile device and processed by the mobile device (in standalone mode or in connection with services in the cloud (i.e. the Internet)) to provide various services and information. By interconnecting the dedicated beacons on a network to a central server computer or to services in the cloud, the system could track a user at any given time and communicate with that user. For example, the system could determine that the user is in a magazine aisle in a grocery store, and as a result send a coupon for a magazine to that user's mobile device at that time. Or, the system could determine that user is standing near a product and send information about that product (or complimentary products) to the user at that time. In another example, a user may be visiting a museum, and strategically placed dedicated beacons could track his location throughout the museum and push information about objects in the museum that the user is currently viewing.
Besides the dedicated beacons that operate in stand-alone mode, networked mode, and/or cloud-based mode, a mobile device such as a mobile smartphone or tablet may be configured to operate as a beacon and provide additional services and features as will be described.
As the use of wireless beacons proliferates, it has become apparent that a user will quickly become bombarded with wireless messages from the multitude of beacons which may surround him. For example, a user may enter a shopping mall and be surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of beacons, all of which may be competing for the user's attention. The user's mobile device may begin to receive hundreds of wireless messages, and it is likely that user may simply ignore his device or even turn it off, in an effort to avoid being bombarded with message after message after message, many of which may be of little or no interest to that user. The present invention addresses and solves this problem and will be described in further detail below.